


Armistice

by Tideside



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Alliance advisors (mentioned), Arcann overthinks everything, Canon-Typical Violence, DS Bounty Hunter barely thinks at all, Dark-side Bounty Hunter, Gen, Spoilers for KOTFE, author messing about with inconsistent LS/DS choices, author seizing on tiny details to toy with, author time-traveling from the past to call this Pre-Slash, melodramatic old bastards, questionable Star Wars medicine, ridiculous Star Wars cusses, self-indulgent oc fic, spoilers for kotet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25584286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tideside/pseuds/Tideside
Summary: In the wake of Valkorion's defeat, two instruments of war are finally obliged to have a conversation.
Kudos: 10





	Armistice

**Author's Note:**

> This got punted into a drawer a long while back; as such it has spoilers for the entirety of the Zakuul storyline, but not the more recent story updates.  
> Just an exercise in making sense of a KOTET playthrough on a DS hunter, really.

"Surely there are others more suited for this," Arcann said, a little desperately. 

"Nonsense, you'll do fine," Gault said. "The Commander's a big softie, once you get to know him." 

Arcann hadn't had many personal interactions with Gault, and he was starting to regret allowing that to change. By all appearances, the Devaronian's reputation was well-deserved. Arcann didn't get the impression that there were all that many individuals in the system who could get away with mocking the Alliance Commander to his face. 

Half-sprawled on the nearby couch, the commander in question was radiating fury. It poured from him like smoke from a wrecked starship. His pale, scarred face had a sheen of sweat over it, and his dark hair was plastered down against his scalp in irregular patches. Some poor medical assistant had helped pry him out of his armor, but the tattered suit beneath still stank of melted durasteel and burnt skin. 

"...fch...ffing _kill_ you, Gault." Kade had spent much of the past day screaming; now, his voice was a low, hoarse ruin. 

The throne delivered, the Alliance victorious, Kade had limped down to the medical facilities only _after_ delivering his victory speech (perfunctory, harsh). There, he'd suffered mutely under Lokin's attentions for a scant handful of minutes before they'd had to haul him, delirious and enraged, into one of the private lounges while the medical droid underwent repairs. 

Whatever sedative Lokin had administered had taken Kade out at the knees, but it hadn't quite put him under.  
The same streak of feral defiance that - Arcann assumed - kept Kade alive after Valkorion's power was ripped out of him was now insisting he deny his injuries and batter himself to death against the next foe. 

Arcann recognized the impulse. 

And now Gault had called Arcann in to, what? Make sure the Commander took his nap? Hand him off to Lokin once he was safely asleep? 

Why _him_?

"Do me a favor, big guy," Gault said to him, with all the familiarity of an old friend. "Don't let anyone else in here. Even Torian. But especially Skadge." 

"Skadge?" Arcann asked, bewildered. He'd only just learned _Gault's_ name. 

"You'll know him when you see him," Gault said, airily.

"At least... give me my helmet, you _shit_." Kade cast about clumsily with one hand, and made to rise. 

For an instant there was a flash of (real?) concern on Gault's face, replaced swiftly by amusement; he reached out to shove Kade back down. Something about the ease with which Gault accomplished it, perhaps, left Kade staring out into the middle distance as if the galaxy were spinning away from him. 

"I..." Arcann paused, considering his words. "I am not certain that this is the best idea." 

"You want to try and dunk him in a kolto tank, be my guest." Gault spoke with the sly anticipation of someone who had once witnessed an attempt. 

"Dopes me up every chance he kriffing gets," Kade muttered. His head bobbed slightly, up and down, like a man afloat on the sea. 

Was it Lokin he was referring to? Arcann made a mental note. 

"I know, buddy," Gault said, patting the commander lightly on the shoulder. He was quick to pull his hand away. "Didn't help that you were trying to smash up one of the droids, though." 

Arcann coughed politely. "Surely Shan, or Lady Beniko..." Senya could probably wrangle Kade into that tank, he was sure...

"Ah, he won't hurt you. And if it makes you feel any better, he probably won't remember any of this." Gault grinned at him. "Good luck, pal." 

And he was out the door. 

Arcann couldn't help but wonder if Gault really trusted him with Kade, or if the Devaronian was simply too invested in whatever had called him away - a certain "Hylo" - to really concern himself.  
The truth probably lay somewhere in the middle. It tended to. 

Arcann looked down at Kade. 

Kade glowered up at him. 

They regarded one another. 

For years, Arcann had looked at the Outlander and seen his father. Kade might as well have been an empty set of armor, or a droid. 

Out from under the helmet, Kade went from machine to akk dog. An arena beast, scarred and hungry and waiting for the moment the beastmaster got distracted. You could believe he'd tracked people down for a living, made his coin from ruining their lives. Arcann had taken advantage of that, once; it was all too easy to make Zakuul fear the Outlander. 

"Guess one of us is babysitting," Kade croaked. 

"Hm," Arcann replied. 

He'd sworn to serve the Alliance, and more specifically the Commander. Standing watch here for a few minutes - even a few hours - was hardly the worst demand that might be made of him.  
The room was quiet save for the hum of the lights and the occasional muted murmur of conversation from the corridor. In a few moments Kade would be unconscious, and then perhaps Arcann could seek out the inner balance that this pain-fueled petulance was threatening to upend. Kade, Force-blind once more, was not the one having to stew in the echo of his own dark impulses. 

"This is your fault," Kade said. 

Arcann blinked, taken aback despite himself.  
But only for a moment. Kade's accusation came much later than expected, but it was hardly undeserved.  
Arcann's welcome into the Alliance had been offered with uncharacteristic resignation, too abrupt to feel entirely sincere, much less earned. Senya had paved the way for him there, clearly, and if Kade wasn't exactly _pleased_ , he'd obviously made up his mind to pretend otherwise for her sake. 

Until now. 

"I know," Arcann said, lowering his gaze, "And I will work all the rest of my days to-" 

" _No_ ," Kade hissed, frustrated, pained. "Don't - _don't_ , it was bad enough listening to _Marr_ -"

Arcann had no idea what he was talking about, or if there was in fact sense to be made of it; he waited, silent. 

"Not enough to put me in carbonite. Had to make me out to be some hero." It was a muttered accusation. Or perhaps a joke? 

Every time Kade rattled out more than a few words, his breathing hitched badly. Arcann knew they'd have to speak sometime; doubtless there was plenty of discussion to be had, however uncomfortable. If nothing else they could agree _not_ to speak ever again, and simply exist together in comfortable silence. He could resign himself to that. 

But must they work this out here and now? 

Stars, who knew what the Outlander - what _Kade_ wanted to hear? It reminded Arcann, to a small but uncomfortable degree, of speaking with Valkorion again, never quite certain of what response might gain his approval. (None, it turned out.) 

"You lived up to it," Arcann said at last. 

Like so many times before, it was the wrong thing to say. 

"Yeah, well." Kade's eyes glittered. "Stories are easy. How's yours go? A little force magic, and suddenly you're _someone else_...?" 

The barb passed over him, harmless. "What Senya did for me was many things, but not easy." None of this would ever be easy - she told him that, too. 

"Yeah." A quiet laugh. 

Arcann didn't wish the Alliance Commander any pain. They'd done each other enough harm. It would have pleased him to be able to begin this new chapter in his life by convincing Kade, through logic and mutual respect, to forego crawling into a hole to die like a stray animal and let Arcann lead him back toward the medbay. 

But his being here, it clearly wasn't helping.

Gault was a fool. Maybe Lokin could simply give Kade another dose. Maybe it would have been better to have left Kade to his own devices from the start. Zakuul was saved, the Alliance reborn, and its Commander wanted only to take refuge in a quiet room. That seemed fair, on the whole. 

"You should rest," Arcanna said, gently. 

"You should find some orphans to rescue," Kade said. If anything, he seemed livelier. "Talk to Theron and Lana, they run the place. They only call me in when they need someone shot." 

"I doubt that," Arcann said.

Kade grinned crookedly; his laugh was a near-silent exhale. "My mistake was not charging from the start. I ask for credits now, they just give me a _look_."

Arcann smiled, just a little. 

Still grinning, Kade said, "When are you going to tell them?" 

Arcann took a breath. "Tell them what?" Of his secret plan to retake the throne? Of how he had - _surprise!_ \- protested this assignment only to trick Gault into letting him have a chance at Kade alone?  
He tried not to take these suspicions personally; the real surprise was that anyone trusted him at all. 

Kade clenched a fist. (Was the sedative working at _all_ , Arcann wondered)

"How it really happened," Kade spat. "How he- Valkorion would be chowing down on Coruscant right about now, if _you_ hadn't stuck a lightsaber in his back." 

Ah. 

Arcann tried to work back through the conversation, but his thoughts were scattered. Did the Alliance advisors not know?  
But of course: They were alone, in that chamber, the three of them. Arcann had been all too happy to give Kade the credit. 

It was not what Arcann had expected to have to account for. Nor had it occurred to him to wield that knowledge like a cudgel. Was it shame Kade felt, for succumbing to Valkorion's promises and threats just like everyone else? Neither of them had loved his father, but perhaps they had both believed that they _needed_ something from him. 

Which might constitute a weakness, to a proud man. 

Arcann took a guess, stepping out onto unfamiliar ground. Trusting Valkorion could be taken as a foolish error. But the self-serving calculation that had put Kade on his knees before the Eternal Throne? That might be harder to live with. 

"You regret it," he said. Maybe it was unfair of Arcann to be a little surprised. 

Kade exhaled sharply. "Guess you'd know what that looks like." 

Arcann did. For the first time, he thought about what Gault said.  
He took a step forward, toward where Kade lay sagged against the cushions, and watched Kade's expression change. 

"You're afraid of me," Arcann said, with some regret of his own. Kade hadn't been, before.

Kade didn't answer. His head drooped. For a moment Arcann wasn't sure he'd heard at all. 

"They'll remember, soon enough," Kade said. "Now that he's gone." His voice was shaking - sentiment or sedatives? "Corellia. Makeb. They're going to remember what I'm _for_. Not this." His eyes turned upward, to the ceiling, the glittering Zakuulan fixtures. 

It came to Arcann like a whisper from the Force. Like recognizing like. 

"A weapon," he said. 

"Yes," Kade said. His smile was terrible, full of weary relief. 

And would it not suit him? Together, they could be Zakuul's - the _Alliance's_ \- two blades, wielded against its enemies. It was so familiar that Arcann felt a pang of hurt inside his chest. And in its familiarity even the hurt was appealing. 

What _couldn't_ they conquer? They could build an empire greater even than his father's. 

A day from now, all of Kade's wounds would be mended and he'd be a hunter again, machine or akk dog. Kade might not even remember this conversation, much less his regret, or the long road he'd taken to find it. His gaze would turn back toward the stars, and where Valkorion had once whispered to him in quiet moments, he might fill that fresh silence with his own dark thoughts. If someone else didn't get there first. 

But... Neither of them had the Alliance, those many years ago. His mother was here, now, along with all of Kade's advisors. The spy, the Sith. A hundred friends and allies. Outside the door at Arcann's back lay everything that made victory over Valkorion possible. 

"Your friends, they've... been telling a different story, these days," Arcann said. "The Force has touched you, too. You could be someone else. If you want to be." 

Kade grimaced, which was not the reaction Arcann had hoped for.

But something seemed to ease in him, all the same.  
"Feels like I swallowed a flash grenade," Kade said, as purely miserable as Arcann had ever heard him. 

"You should rest," Arcann said again, thinking of another face, another voice, at his own bedside. 

Kade's head sagged at once, and for an instant Arcann, startled, thought he had called upon the Force without intending to. Arcann sank down onto the couch beside him, just far enough away from Kade that the two of them did not touch. 

A minute crawled past. Kade's eyes opened. He looked frail, now, battered down to bruises and scars and a singled coiled knot of terror.  
His voice was quiet, confused. "Valkorion?" 

Arcann couldn't help the prickle of tension at his spine. 

But there was no trace of his father's power here. He did sense, like faint eddies in the wider current, some of the Alliance's force users as they meditated nearby. Around them, incandescent, the triumphant joy of hundreds. 

"He's gone," Arcann said. His father, his siblings. "It's just us." 

He heard Kade's laugh again, the voiceless puff of air. 

The wet rattle of his breathing evened out, in time. Arcann reached out just long enough to sense that Kade was asleep.  
The base was humming with activity. Soon enough, someone would come and fetch them both. 

To save someone. To kill someone else. He didn't know yet. 

Arcann settled in to wait. They'd find out together.


End file.
